It was a simple statement, made several times and misunderstood, each time, by me!
I gather the bulletin information, assemble it all together and print it each Sunday. I get the information for music from the praise team leaders, I get the offering total from the treasurer, and I get the message info from the person who is speaking. Since our pastor has gone, we have several men that have stepped up and do a great job! Every so many weeks our praise team does the service with music and scripture and sharing etc. which was the previous week. So come Saturday night I realized I did not know who was speaking! When I found out which gentleman was speaking, a foggy memory came to mind ..."OH YES,...he gave me his sermon title a few weeks ago!! Uh OH!" I searched and couldn't find a note I had hoped I wrote to myself! No luck.
SO, since he has NO social media or technology, I messaged his wife Sunday morning with the question..."is there a sermon title?" the response..."Who is this?"
I thought..."well, that is odd, she should know who this is?" SO I waited for her to get back to me...after telling her it was "Tracey".
Time ticks by...I NEEDED to print....and hadn't heard back....so I called and got him on the phone...."Hello, Good morning, this is Tracey, do we have a sermon title? " "Hello, who is this?" I began to respond with an unbelieving...."Tracey!" when JUST as the words came out of my mouth, I got it! My memory came back to me! "WHO IS THIS?" WAS the sermon title!
(pausing for laughter)😄
BUT boy did that get me thinking, as well as make me feel foolish!
How often do we pray and seek answers, but when we get them, we don't get it...."Who is this?"
We "bang the receiver" as if the connection is unclear.
We don't actually "listen and hear" God's answer,
Jesus said several times, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” when He was teaching:
About Himself and John the Baptist;
Matthew 11:1-15
The Parable of the Sower;
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear." Matthew 13:1-9
When He spoke of the cost of being a disciple
Luke 14:25-35
I believe that when Jesus used this phrase, He was speaking to all, we ALL have ears, to ALL who were within the range of His voice, and for those of us who believe today....we ARE in the range of His voice! I believe He meant more than "hear the noise, the sound my voice makes" I believe He meant "hear with our heart, our soul", to "hear" the meaning of His teaching.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:24-27
We would be wise to not just listen, but to "hear" His words! If we desire that we should be spending time in His word every day! That is where we are going to hear Him best! So that we don't have to say "who is this?", we don't have to question whether or not we are "hearing" His answers. IF it doesn't line up with scripture then it isn't Him!
“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. John 5:24-27
If we listen, His Word gives us LIFE! Eternal life!
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:11
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